I've been involved in dogs, showing and dog sports for 40 years and have never bred a single litter, even my Grand Champion conformation dogs.

This spring, I'm breeding my elite-level male purebred agility dog to a mixed-breed flyball/disc competition dog that lives 1200 km away, in another country. Even with both dogs being fit and healthy, the bitch's owner is driving her to my house for a natural breeding, just because we don't want to breed dogs that don't have the instinct or physical ability to mate and to give birth naturally. And then 5 months after that, I'm going to do the 2400 km round-trip to get my long-nosed, athletic-bodied sport mix puppy.

I just totally fail to see why anybody would want a brachy breed: a dog that is in constant physical distress, riddled with health problems, and unable to do all of the great stuff dogs are supposed to do, like running, jumping, hiking, swimming, catching frisbees, etc. I'm suspicious that these breeds have become popular mainly because they are so nonathletic, overweight, and incapable of much movement that modern owners are absolved from feeling guilty for ignoring the dog in favor of doing things with their friends or children.

Wow. Yours seems like the type of reasoned approach and very thoughtful strategy that I'd like to see in folks who claim to constantly be breeding "to better the breed." Because doing a few health tests and maintaining the purebred status quo is certainly not "doing the best one can" to improve dog health and welfare while also supplying pups to eager buyers. I love the fact that you're going to the effort to breed them naturally!

Yes, they have somewhat baby-like faces, etc. But many of us realize that in canids, those traits are birth defects, not endearing qualities. I hope that "many" becomes "most" and then "all" sooner rather than later.

SKY, those puppies sound amazing! I love small sport mixes. you didn't say which breeds make up the female, but now I'm imagining pups that are gonna be a bit bigger than a pap and very athletic. Sing me up :)

Merrie, I forgot to mention that both dogs have undergone or are in the process of undergoing all their health tests, too. My male is a Papillon, and he just passed all his OFA tests and is on the CHIC registry in North America. OFA is a registry for dogs that have had any of about 100 specialist tests, normally from a board-certified vet at a veterinary university. Those are pass/fail. CHIC is a related registry that uses the OFA results to determine the most important tests for each breed. A dog that has all the CHIC-recommended tests, whether they pass or fail, gets on the CHIC registry for at least having been concerned enough to do the tests. I would only use my dog for breeding if he was both CHIC and actually passed all the tests on the OFA end, which he has. The bitch is being tested in a few weeks. Both dogs also compete at high levels in multiple sports.

I've been into purebreds, conformation showing (among many sports) and purebred rescue for decades. But I have to thank PDE 100% for my decision that my next puppy and only breeding of my life is going to be this planned, health-tested breeding that will result in puppies that are a 50/25/25 mix of three breeds. Thanks, Jemima!

SKY, I understand the need to pure breed dogs. But I do not understand the breeding of any mix breed dogs, when we have THOUSANDS die everyday in shelters, backyards dropped offed on dirt roads, in every country in the world!

Breezemax, why is breeding one type of dog ok, ie purebred, but breeding a different type of dog ie, a well thought out mix to do a sport, not ok? Don't really understand that.......someone breeding a health tested and well planned mix to do a specific job (in this case, sport) is not ok, but continuing to breed sickly pedigrees for nothing other than pets or the show ring (because lets face it, most purebreds are one or the other these days) is morally wrong?All dogs are the same species, its not like a mix is a crime against nature, its just two individuals of a species producing a litter.

Its obvious Sky's mix pup is bred for a purpose, to do a specific thing, and the parents carefully selected for that purpose, as well as health tested.......is a randomly bred shelter dog going to have that drive? That working ability? Be able to do the job sky wants? Unlikely.

If I want a dog to herd sheep, I don't go to a shelter and take a punt on a random dog and just hope it has the mentality to herd and do a day's work; I'd get a proper working dog from known working lines who has that drive and ability and has been specially selected for these traits.

The idea that every dog is basically the same, and a random shelter mix will be just as capable as a deliberately and carefully selected working dog is ridiculous. Theres a reason we don't use pugs to herd sheep, or greyhounds to do gundog work. You'd laugh at the idea of someone using a CKCS to do bitework, but what youre suggesting - don't breed a specifically planned and selected mix for a job, but get a random shelter dog instead and just cross your fingers that is can do the work you want, is just a laughable.

Im all for shelter dogs, but if you are after a dog to do something specific, not just a bog standard pet, you need to know that dog's bloodlines and know they're proven in the job you want it to do.

Jesus. Now I bet you she's KC registered and a breeder they promote. These dogs shouldn't be bred, we need more regulation. On the other hand am I the only one worried that the woman isn't trained to do that, she didn't look or sound like a vet, I'm scared for that dogs safty

SUBSCRIBE TO PDE - THE BLOG

Search This Blog

About Me

I grew up with pedigree dogs - English Setters, Great Danes, Labradors and, most recently, Flatcoated Retrievers. Today, I share my home with an assortment of dogs, purebred and mutts. In 2008, I directed Pedigree Dogs Exposed, a BBC documentary which uncovered the extent of health and welfare problems in pedigree dogs. The film has now been shown in more than 20 countries. Campaigning for improved purebred dog health is now a great passion - one fuelled by the fear that those who currently view themselves as the guardians of pedigree dogs are, often unwittingly, the agents of their demise.
My mission, then, is to continue to highlight where things have gone wrong and to encourage breeders and Kennel Clubs to embrace reform - particularly when it comes to harmful phenotypes and inbreeding.